Perhaps the saddest of all facts to face up to in this life
is that sooner or later one's physical and mental health will give way to
decay, disease and death. This inescapable sequence comes to all
of us irrespective of color, class or creed. Decay, disease and
death may also be seen operating in the natural world all about us,
from the lowest rock, plant or metal to the most complex of living creatures.
All creation is subject to this dreaded process and everything about us is
dying by degrees - wearing out before our very eyes.
Yet at
the same time, there is another phenomenon at work in the universe. It is the
miracle of life, abundant life, triumphant life; life that in a million
different ways is the antithesis of death; life that overwhelmingly triumphs
over the very worst that death can do.
In short, there exists throughout this universe two
diametrically opposed processes, decay and death on the one hand
and triumphant life on the other. "Cycles of Mother Nature" they
are often called; but that is a sad understatement of a great truth, that
all the miracles of nature are in reality the handiwork of Christ, the Creator of the mighty universe. Yes, it is a fundamental
fact that all creation owes its existence to Him; and nothing throughout the
limitless expanses of the cosmos can continue to function without His
authority and power. He can give life and He can take it away. He can build
up, and He can break down. He can open and He can close. If you accept His
mercy and live in accordance with His will, you will pass through the portals
of the tomb and rise to live for all time. Ignore Him, resist Him, reject His
offer of mercy and salvation and in the final Judgement you will be condemned
and will cease to exist. "You will then be as though you had not been."
This, in truth, is the essence of Bible teaching.
Let us now turn to the Word of 'God', the Bible, to
find out what He has to say about death. What is death anyway? How did it come
about in the first place? What happens to a person when he/she dies? Where do
they go? Can the living communicate with the dead? Are the dead in heaven or
hell or in some other place? Is death the end of existence, or is there an
afterlife? And to address an immediate problem - How can we conquer our
inherent fear of death?
1. The Penalty for Sin:
According to the Scriptures, the penalty for
sin is death - eternal death. And the only way for sinners to escape
that penalty is to accept the Almighty's offer of mercy through 'Jesus'. The reader should beware of treating this oft-repeated truth with a contempt born of familiarity. Yes, "the wages (reward) of sin
is death"and "the soul that sinneth it shall surely die." No
matter what people may say to the contrary, that is what the Scriptures teach
concerning the end result of sin. It is folly to ignore these facts.
(Ezekiel 33:1-20, Romans 5:12-13, Romans 6:23)
2. Two Deaths:
The Bible speaks of two deaths and it is important to
know the difference between them.
- The First Death: is experienced by the whole human race, with the
exception of those believers who will be alive when the Messiah returns to
earth.
- The Second Death:, the REAL DEATH, will be experienced
only by the rejecters of Lord's mercy.
The First Death: is compared in the Scriptures to
a 'deep sleep;' a sleep from which everyone who has ever died will
arise at the resurrection, just as a sleeping child awakes in the morning when
called by its parent. The first death, tragic though it obviously is, need not
to be greatly feared.
The Second Death:, however, is a very different
matter. It is death in the fullest sense of the word - the real thing!
It is the final, irreversible annihilation of the soul; the death from which
there is no resurrection - no return. The second death is the 'absolute end
of existence.' It is, therefore, greatly to be feared.
(John
11:11-14&24-26, Psalm 13:3, Revelation 20:12-15)
3. No Consciousness in Death:
In death, the first or the second, there
is no consciousness at all. This means that there is no thought, no
communication, no knowledge, no pain, no joy and
no praise in the grave. In fact, 'death is the very opposite of
life.' At death, people do not go anywhere - they cease to exist.
The physical elements which once composed the body return to the earth, and
the 'spark of life', the 'breath' or 'Spirit of Christ' returns to
God who gave it. The dead are incapable of communicating with the living,
because they are not conscious of anything that happens on the earth. The
Bible says: "The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not
anything."
(Isaiah 38:18-19, Ecclesiastes 9:5-6&10, Job
7:9-10)
4. Spiritism:
Who then, are the beings who speak through
mediums at the many spiritist seances held around the world? They are
the "spirits of devils" masquerading as departed loved ones. They are
evil angels (evil spirits, lying demons, satanic agencies) posing as
dead human beings. And all with the diabolic purpose of deceiving mankind into
thinking that death is really not death at all - not even a sleep - but a
higher form of spiritual existence which the Almighty is unwilling to tell us
about.
Beware of that subtle and dangerous deception. The Bible
plainly states that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" and
that "the dead know not anything," nor can they communicate with
the living. Any person or spirit, therefore, that teaches otherwise is most
certainly not of God. (1 Timothy 4:1, Revelation 16:13-14, 2 Thessalonians
2:8-11, Isaiah 8:19-20)
5. Where are the Dead?
If the First Death is likened in the Bible to a
sleep, then where are the dead sleeping? Are they in heaven or hell or
in some other place?
The answers to this question is best understood if one
considers a simple box, made of wood and nails. Arrange the wood in a certain
way and nail it together and lo! you will have a box. Remove the nails and
separate the pieces of wood and of course you will cease to have a box. When
dismantled the box didn't go anywhere, did it? It simply ceased to exist as a
box. In its place remain a few nails and pieces of wood. Its maker could quite
easily reassemble the box and bring it back into existence.
It is the same with the make-up of a human being. The
Bible states that, "God formed man out of the dust of the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living
soul."
Please note that man was not given a "soul," a
separate ethereal some thing which was immortal. Oh no! Man "became a
living soul." A soul, then is a being composed of two basic
elements, the dust of the ground and the breath of life.
At death this process of creation is reversed; a person
is dismantled, taken to pieces, as it were. The breath leaves the body and the body returns to the dust of the earth. Like the box, that person, that soul, ceases to exist. That person, that soul, does not go up to heaven, or down to hell or to any other place. He/she simply ceases to exist. The soul, another term for 'living being,' could just as easily be reassembled by its Maker as could that box - and that is what will take place at the Resurrection - but it is important to remember that souls do not go anywhere at death: neither to heaven, hell or
Purgatory. They simply cease to exist. This is the Bible teaching on
this matter. Genesis 2:7, Ezekiel 37:11-14, John 5:25-29)
6. To Overcome the Fear of Death:
And now we come to a vital question:
How does one over come the fear of death?
The answer is simple.
Become acquainted with the One who has already conquered death. Yes, accept
salvation from "death's conqueror" - Jesus Christ. Put your trust in
him, follow him, verbally acknowledge before some third party that you
believe in the risen Lord, and then take positive steps to obey the
commandments of 'God'.
If you do these things, then slowly the sweetest of
miracles will overtake your mind. Unshakeable confidence will replace fear in
your life; joy will replace sadness and peace will replace turmoil. In short,
you will no longer fear death.
Why?
Because deep within your being you will know that you are a child of the
'Almighty', a new person, a living person; one who may sleep the
"deep sleep" of the first death, but certainly not one who will ever
taste of the REAL DEATH, the second death, that soul-annihilating event
from which no one will ever return. (Matthew 10:28, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,
Psalm 33:18-19, John 3:16,
7. The Hereafter:
One important question remains to be answered. Will
death ever come to an end; or will it continue to alternate with life
throughout the endless cycles of eternity? God's Word assures us that one
day death will come to an end. It will become obsolete - a thing of the past.
Together with sickness, sorrow and pain, it will be debarred from human
experience by the power of Christ the Almighty, and will not even come to
mind. In its place, the ransomed of God, those who have placed their faith
in the Almighty and His Son Jesus, will have Life, abundant
life, eternal life, life in the fullest sense of the term. What's more, the
entire universe is going to be remade; and the heartbreaking process of
"decay and death," which is painfully apparent in this present world,
will end. Says the Most High in Revelation 21:
1:And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2: And I John
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband.
3: And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they shall be his people, and he himself shall be with them, and be
their God.
4: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5: And
he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said
unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
It is
quite impossible for the present human mind to fully appreciate the extent of
that astonishing statement. But it is true nonetheless. God has promised
to remake the whole universe and this time there will be no more sickness,
sorrow and death. In other words, those who enter the Kingdom will
'live for ever' in a new universe where "disease and death" no
longer exist. You will agree that that is something to really look forward to.
(1 Corinthians 15 especially verses 26&51-54, 2 Timothy 1:10, where
these points are proved beyond any doubt.)
